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23 Hezbollah members killed in Syria

Syrian government forces pushed deeper into a strategic opposition-held town near the Lebanese border Monday, battling rebels in fierce street fighting, state-media reported.

An activist group said at least 23 elite fighters from Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group fighting alongside regime troops have been killed in the clashes.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks Syria's civil war, said more than 100 Hezbollah members also have been wounded in the fighting around the town of Qusair. If confirmed, the casualties would be a significant blow to the Shiite group, which has come under harsh criticism at home in Lebanon for its involvement in the war next door.

A staunch ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, Hezbollah is heavily invested in the survival of the Damascus regime and is known to have sent fighters to aid government forces.

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The Lebanese group's growing role in the conflict also points to the deeply sectarian nature of the war in Syria, in which a rebellion driven by the country's Sunni majority seeks to overthrow a regime dominated by the president's Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.

The Observatory, which relies on a wide network of activists on the ground in Syria, cited "sources close to the militant group" for the death toll but declined to reveal their identity.

It said at least 50 Syrian rebels were also killed in the battle for Qusair on Sunday, including two commanders.

Qusair has been the target of a withering government offensive in recent weeks, and the countryside around the town has been engulfed in fighting as regime troops backed by Hezbollah fighters seized villages as they closed in on Qusair itself. The opposition estimates that some 40,000 civilians are currently in the town.

The intensity of the fighting reflects the importance both sides attach to the area.

In the regime's calculations, Qusair lies along a strategic land corridor linking Damascus with the Mediterranean coast, the Alawite heartland.

For the rebels, overwhelmingly Sunni Qusair has served as a conduit for shipments of weapons and supplies smuggled from Lebanon to opposition fighters inside Syria.

Regime troops and Hezbollah fighters, who laid siege to Qusair weeks ago, launched an offensive to regain control of the town, with Hezbollah's elite fighters advancing from the east and south, an opposition figure said.

An official in the Homs governor's office told the AP on Monday more than 60 percent of the city is in government hands after scores of gunmen were killed or surrendered Sunday.

The Syrian regime claims there is no civil war in the country and the army is fighting foreign-backed terrorists trying to topple Assad's government.

More than 70,000 people have been killed in Syria since March 2011.

At least 1.5 million Syrian who fled civil war have sought shelter in neighbouring countries such as Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, while millions more have been displaced inside Syria and are in urgent need of basic aid, according to the United Nations.